1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to customizing software. In particular, the invention relates to customizing software that is pre-loaded by the computer manufacturer by replacing generic information with information specific to the end user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers use an operating system, such as Windows 98.RTM., that provides an environment in which applications, such as word processors, databases, and spreadsheets, can operate. In the case of software written to operate in the Windows 98.RTM. environment, each application stores user information in common areas, known as registry files. For example, the user information can be stored in system data and user data files in Windows 98.RTM.. When an application is selected by a user, the information stored in these files is displayed.
When software is first installed on a computer, the software will prompt a user to enter a user or company name and other information. When such software is pre-loaded on a computer by the manufacturer, generic information is often provided in response to such prompts. There is currently no easy method for the PC owner, who ultimately acquires the computer, to customize this previously installed information. Often, reinstallation of the software is required to change the pre-stored information, which is both tedious and time-consuming.
For many customers, especially businesses, this presents a problem. They like or need the professional appearance of their name and company information used and displayed within the software. At the same time, many do not have the time to manually reload all of their software to achieve this goal.
As an alternative to reinstalling the software on their PCs, users could manually correct entries in the registry of the operating software. However, this approach is not optimal because it, too, is a tedious process and it requires specialized knowledge by the user on how to find and then manually change registry entries. In addition, it is possible to edit the wrong entries in the registry, which could result in reduced functionality of the system.
The present invention overcomes the above-recited problems by providing a method for customizing pre-loaded software by automatically replacing pre-existing registration information with user-supplied registration information.